Calhoun County, Panama City sue companies over opioid crisis

Calhoun County and Panama City are joining the legal fight against pharmaceutical companies to stem the opioid epidemic.

The two local governments filed lawsuits Friday in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee against the makers and distributors of legally prescribed but widely abused opioid pain medicines. They join more than 200 cities and counties across the U.S. that are suing big drug companies, alleging they misled the public about their dangers and addictiveness and seeking damages for treatment and other costs of responding to the epidemic.

A number of other Florida counties have either sued the pharmaceutical industry or signaled they may do so, including Alachua, Broward, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. Last month, Leon County commissioners directed the county attorney to issue a request for proposals for outside counsel to handle possible litigation.

In November, Calhoun County commissioners agreed to file the lawsuit after it was contacted by attorneys from the Levin Papantonio firm of Pensacola. The county hired the firm on a contingency basis, according to county minutes.

“We need to save people from the addiction and the consequences of the addiction,” said Calhoun County Commission Chairman Danny Ray Wise. “That’s the main goal.”

Several Panhandle or Big Bend counties rank high in opioid prescription rates in Florida, according to 2016 figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They are Bay (second), Taylor (fourth), Escambia (fifth), Jackson (10th) and Gulf (12th). In Bay County, there were 121.2 prescriptions for every 100 people. In Calhoun County, which ranked 43rd in the state, there were 71.2 prescriptions for every 100 people.

Florida in 2016 had 5,725 opioid-related deaths, a 35 percent jump from the previous year, according to the Medical Examiners Commission Drug Report.

Both Calhoun County and Panama City filed nearly identical, 229-page complaints using the same legal team, which includes lawyers from Panama City, Pensacola, Alabama and Mississippi. The lawyers have also sued on behalf of cities including Birmingham, Alabama, and Cincinnati, Ohio. The federal lawsuits are being consolidated under a single U.S. district judge in Ohio.

USA Today reported the drug companies deny the allegations and have said the lawsuits should not move forward until federal studies are done on opioid risks and benefits. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, was proposing a global settlement to end the litigation.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.